


The Nerd Squad

by EvelynParker



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25109398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvelynParker/pseuds/EvelynParker
Summary: A re-imagining/rewrite of CSI 1x1.





	1. Chapter 1

The moment Holly Gribbs and I walked into the office of our soon-to-be supervisor, we both could tell we were out of our depth. From the dead frog floating in formaldehyde, to the pig fetus floating in what smelled distinctly like urine, I just knew I was in for one hell of a trip when it came to my new job at the Las Vegas Crime Lab. The only difference between the two of us, however, was as she looked around in utter confusion, I was staring at the samples in morbid fascination. “Hi.” A voice speaks up next to me, and I turn my head at Holly’s startled gasp, giggling as she catches her breath. An older man with salt and pepper hair, looking to be in his late twenties to early thirties stands before us, sticking a hand out as he quickly apologizes for the scare, introducing himself, “Gil Grissom, I’m your supervisor on graveyard.”

I smile, waiting for Holly to introduce herself before taking Grissom’s hand in mine, “Evelyn Parker, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name, Mr. Grissom.” Grissom nods, glancing between Holly and myself, Likewise...would the two of you mind taking off your jackets and rolling up your sleeve? I need a pint of your blood, it’s customary for all new hires.” I shed my jacket, biting back a grin as Holly mumbles, “We haven’t even checked in yet.” As I’m trying not to focus on the needle piercing my skin, I glance through the office window, smiling as a handsome duo stand together down the hall, and focusing in on their lips. From what I can tell, the two are in friendly competition with each other for a promotion, the doubt I had of fitting in dissipating at how close they seem.

I laugh a little as one of them calls after the other something about the Packers. My focus is brought back to the room I’m in as Grissom stores the blood samples in a mini-fridge behind his desk as he explains to holly and me exactly what our new jobs entail, “Pretty cool actually.” I nod my agreement, pursing my lips as Holly says she already knew what he was telling us, before giving my own opinion, “Still pretty cool to think about.” Just as we’re signing the necessary line of duty waivers, Holly starts to feel lightheaded. While I help her sit down, Grissom reaches into his mini-fridge, pulling out a specimen jar and holding it out to us, “Here, try one of these.” Holly declines as politely as she can, but I murmur my thanks and take what turns out to be a chocolate covered grasshopper, grinning at her grimace at the crunch of the odd treat.

The next thing I know, I’m sitting at one end of a meeting room table while a detective, Jim Brass according to Grissom, hands out the night’s assignments. I can’t help but let my eyes wander over to my other coworkers, focusing in on one of the faces I’d noticed earlier, belonging to a handsome young man, slightly older than me, with honey brown eyes. He apparently had a similarly curious mind, as his eyes rove to meet mine, and after a short moment of shared smiles, I learn his name is Nick Stokes, and he’ll be investigating a 414, a trick roll, the victim of which was drugged and robbed at the scene. The other man, Warrick Brown, is given a 407, a home invasion that included forced entry and the victim having shot at the suspect. I smile at Nick again, following Brass and Grissom into Jim’s office this time, wincing as Holly takes his question of why she deserves to be part of the county’s second best crime lab as an insult.

After she’s dismissed, he turns his apparent wrath on me, “How about you? Do you feel I’m prejudging you?” I shake my head, answering his current and former question in one fell swoop, “No Sir, I don’t. I understand where you’re coming from, seeing as I‘m fresh out of the academy, and as you said she’s mainly here by the behest of her father. I, however, am here because I applied myself and know how to keep my head down and not ruffle any more feathers than absolutely necessary.” Jim stares me down for a tense moment before he turns to Grissom and tells him to take Holly along to his upcoming autopsy appearance, “I think every new hire should experience an autopsy on their first night...you, Miss Parker, are free to join Stokes on the 414.” I nod, heading out to meet Nick at the parking garage, “Hey, mind if I hitch a ride with you?” He smiles, nodding as he unlocks his SUV, “Fine with me, hop in rookie.”


	2. Chapter 2

As Nick and I reach the hotel and enter the victim’s room, I hang back, figuring Nick would be the better choice to interview the man, “Mr. Laferty? I’m Nick Stokes, with Criminalistics, you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Before he can, Mr. Laferty launches into describing exactly what had been stolen, “Hell, she even got my wedding ring.” As Nick asks if the man thinks he might have been dosed and Laferty explains why he had a woman in his room, I can’t help but notice how Stokes is quite the southern gentleman, accent included, “Open your eyes for me, sunny side up.” I smile softly, giggling as Nick asks the victim if the woman who robbed him was hot, rolling my eyes at the answering groan, but more so at Nick’s encouraging, “Attaboy.” Once Nick notices the discoloration in Mr. Laferty’s gum line, I step forward, explaining what I’m about to do as I hold up a cotton swab, “If you wouldn’t mind opening your mouth, I’ll swab your gums and see if we can’t find what made you pass out.”

Mr. Laferty gives me a sweet smile after I tuck away my swab, “You know, you’re just as good looking as the woman who robbed me.” I blush, glancing over at my coworker as I murmur, “Well then, you’d better be careful around pretty women from now on.” Nick grins at me as we stand to head back to the lab, leaving Mr. Laferty to make an official loss statement with the officer waiting at the door murmuring something I just barely catch, “He’s not the only one.” Those words leave me reeling as I follow Nick back to his car so I can get to work on identifying the swab. He doesn’t seem to notice my change in demeanor, patting my back and congratulating me on my first scene.

After returning from the trick roll, Nick leads me towards one of the labs, trying to prepare me for the upcoming interaction with a cryptic warning, “Just so you know, Sanders can be a bit...eccentric in his mannerisms.” I come to quickly understand what he means, however, as we enter the lab and are greeted by the sight of a baby-faced young man, closer to my age and wearing a mustard yellow patterned shirt and skinny jeans under his lab coat, a leather cuff with similar laces peaking out from under one of his sleeves, “Greg, this is Evelyn Parker, one of the new hires, Miss Parker, meet Greg Sanders, one of the lab’s main chemists.” Greg shakes your offered hand, smiling at you as you hand him the swab you’d taken from the victim, “Nice to meet you Evelyn. Good to know I’ll have someone closer to my age on the team!” I nod, smiling softly as he uses a pair of scissors to clip the head of the swab I’d collected into a mini vial, “Yeah, no kidding...here I thought Molly Gribbs would be the only person I would connect with for the first few weeks.” Greg laughs at that, nodding as he describes his own experience, “I totally get that...the first day I arrived, I was basically treated like an infant for the rest of the month!”

“Oh man, I went through the same thing for all my academy training!” Our shared connection is cut short by Nick clearing his throat, though I share one more smile with the young chemist across from me. “So, this is it, huh?” Greg asks Nick as he slowly draws the liquefied trace into a pippet, “The $8,000 Q-Tip?” Nick shrugs, glancing between Greg and myself as he avoids the topic of his bet with Warrick, “Well, you’re the chemist...we just need to know what knocked the old man out.” Greg nods, glancing at me as he explains how the machine in front of him works, “In 20 seconds, this’ll give us a complete chemical breakdown, right down to the atom.” I nod to show my rapt attention as the chemist continues, “I’m going to warn you though, these mouth swabs don’t always read, vaginal swabs no problem, anal swabs...money.” Nick seems to get stuck on that last part, and I giggle as he mutters, “Ouch.”

While waiting for the sample to process, Nick and Greg busy themselves by talking about a recent sports video game, the younger man gushing about the graphics, which makes me like him more, seeing as we’re both enthusiasts for more than just how to win at something. By the time the sample comes back without anything strange, a strawberry blonde woman appears in the doorway, "Hey, are you the other new hire? Follow me, I need a hand with Gribbs." I nod, smiling sheepishly as I wave goodbye to the men before following her down the hall, "Yes ma'am, Evelyn Parker, what's up with Holly?" The woman stops just outside the driver side of her car, shaking my hand and waving me towards the passenger seat, "Catherine Willows, sorry for the abrupt change of pace, but it seems the owner of the shop that was broken into didn’t take the loss of customers well, and is holding Holly at gunpoint." I frown, eyes going wide as I quickly jump into Catherine's car, buckling up as we speed off to Holly's rescue.


	3. Chapter 3

After a quick stop at the scene of the robbery, and an incredible bluff about letting the evidence go to waste from Catherine, the three of us are sitting in a booth at a diner on the strip, Holly fiddling with her napkin as she admits the true reason behind her being a criminalist, "I was pushed into it by my mom." I scowl slightly as her statement of fulfilling someone else’s dreams instead of her own hits close to home for me, but I make sure to soften the look on my face as I gently pat her arm, "I know how you feel." Catherine seems to take a different approach than mine, however as she explains the brighter side of the job, "We’re just a bunch of kids that are getting paid to work on puzzles!" Holly and I smile softly at her encouraging words, Holly asking for clarification, "So you think I should stick with it?" Catherine nods, describing how the team helps give victims the peace of mind they deserve, telling Holly to at least stick with it through her first solved case to see how she feels about it then, “But if you stay with it, my hand to /god/ you will never regret it.”

Before we can finish our drinks, Catherine gets a call for a 428, and I’m called to assist on a possible drunk driver crash just down the strip. I grab my bag and give Holly a side hug as she and Catherine head out in the latter woman’s car, having decided to walk down to the scene, since I was already halfway there. I smile as Nick sees me arrive, waving to him as we approached the scene of the accident, “Nice to see you again, cowboy.” Nick gives me a simpering smile at the nickname, thanking the officer that had called us in as he explains the basics, “Cowboy...really, that’s the best you’ve got?” I scoff, grinning at his playful attitude, “I’m sure you’d love to know me at my best.”

As we reach the car, I step forward to interview the driver, seeing as it was a female around my age, “Hi there, Evelyn Parker, Criminalistics, mind if I take a look?” The woman leans forward as I take a look at her head injury, “I don’t know what happened...I remember this song that was playing on the radio, I just don’t remember passing out.” I nod, smiling softly as I ask her to say ahh, blushing as Nick has to do it himself when she seems a bit put off by my request and frowning as she seems to flirt with him as she obeys, “No discoloration.” Nick nods, glancing into the car before he joins me in standing upright, “I don’t see anything criminal here.” I shrug, heading towards his waiting SUV as he calls to the waiting EMTs, “Take her to the hospital, have her checked out.”

Apparently the crash victim had more to tell than she let on, because after a tense drive to the hospital, Nick and I find out quite a few woman had all mysteriously passed out, with chest discoloration found by the doctor. I sigh, scowling as the woman from the crash is the first one we find behind a curtain, not liking how she presses her breasts together when she realizes who’s there, “We meet again...may I see your discoloration?” I scoff as the woman asks for $20 first, having had enough of her demeanor towards my coworker, “You wanna do time for attempting to solicit my partner?” This seems to knock some sense into her and, as Nick pulls the curtain divider closed, I take a closer look at the woman’s chest, brows furrowing at the sight, “You know, we just came from a trick toll downtown, the victim’s mouth had similar blotching....chances are whatever he ingested orally, you absorbed through your nipples, knocking you both out.” Nick nods, glancing over at the woman once she fixes her gown and giving her an ultimatum, “You give back the old man his belongings, you tell me what you girls are using, and we won’t have you charged with attempted murder.”

The bottle she pulls out of her purse leaves Nick and I confused, but thankfully we know just the person to figure out how eye drops could cause people to pass out. “It’s scopolamine,” Greg explains, shaking the bottle in front of his eyes as he looks at it through the light, “It’s a chemical used for motion sickness, the eye drop bottle’s a front, one drop of this and she’s out cold.” I frown, not liking where this was headed, “So what, she drips that stuff on her nipples, knowing that her target’s gonna put his mouth there and by the time they wake up, she’s long gone with any ID and valuables.” Nick nods, finishing my thought for me, “But what she doesn’t realize is the scopolamine absorbed into her skin, and the next thing she’s knows, the car is wrecked and so is her easy get away.” Greg smiles as Nick starts laughing at the utter ridiculousness, “Looks like someone didn’t pay enough attention in chemistry class.”


	4. Chapter 4

Nick knocks on the door to room 1413, holding up a paper bag with a crime scene tape bow around it, murmuring as Mr. Laferty takes the proffered gift, “Room service.” I smile at the man’s shocked relief having his stuff back, “Your wallet, cash, credit cards...wedding ring.” Nick gives a faux look of surprise, holding up his hand, the man’s ring sitting on his index finger, giving him some advice along with the belongings, “Okay, next time you wanna take a shot, go to the dice table...at least if you crap out, you can go home broke instead of busted.” By the time we get back to the car, I can already tell the man is excited to return to the precinct, seeing as he has a well-deserved surprise waiting for him, “So...how’s it feel to know you’re about to be promoted?” Nick smiles brightly at me as he pulls out of hotel parking, “Feels like we should celebrate! Breakfast is on me after we finish our shift.”

“Congratulations Nickie my boy, you are now a CSI level 3,” Grissom smiles, holding the badge up to his star pupil, sharing in the younger man’s elation as Warrick shakes his hand I appreciate the good sportsmanship even with the unfortunate turn his 407 had taken, his plan of going to a judge for a warrant backfiring in more ways than one. Catherine offers to buy everyone breakfast for that day, to which we all agree and start heading out. Unfortunately, the happy family moment doesn’t last as Brass comes in and gives us news that makes every smiling face fall, “Holly Gribbs has been shot.” The whole room freezes at the news, growing tense as we learn the suspect had returned to the scene after the officer had left, “They don’t think she’s gonna make it.”

I hear more than see my colleagues react to the heartbreaking news, losing myself in a looping hell of thoughts, ‘What if I’d stood up for Holly in Brass’ office? What if I’d been sent with her to the scene instead of Warrick? What if, What If, WHAT IF?!’ I’m startled out of my cyclical thoughts at the feeling of a hand on my arm, gasping as I spin on my heel and find Grissom by my side, “Hey...come on back to earth kid, we’re gonna need all hands on deck for this one.” I take a deep, shuddering breath, and head out, this time to find the bastard who hurt Holly. The following days are spent with Catherine, looking into what was now Holly’s crime scene, while Nick goes with Grissom to focus on an apparent jumper at one of the casinos. I see a lot more of Greg than before, since I spend most of my time flitting from lab to lab for the different pieces of evidence, the most important being a pager that Catherine had found haphazardly discarded under a bed.

“So, what’s up with you and Nick?” Greg asks, attempting to seem nonchalant as he leans up against the counter in his lab. “Why do you ask?” I return his question with one of my own, grinning as his chill facade breaks for a moment out of slight annoyance at my easy avoidance of the question. “I mean...are you and he together? ‘Cause you certainly seem to get along well.” I blush at his words, shrugging as I copy his easygoing lean, “I dunno...he hasn’t asked me out yet, if that’s what you’re inquiring...unless that’s what he meant by breakfast being his treat.” Greg’s face brightens and then falls slightly as I talk about Nick’s interactions with me up to that point, “Well, if it turns out to be just breakfast...could I maybe take you out for drinks this weekend?”

Before I can answer however, Catherine comes in with a pretty brunette woman in tow, “Greg, do you have my results yet?” I send the man an apologetic smile, murmuring as I head out, “I’ll think about it, Sanders.” As I’m leaving, I notice Grissom talking to Warrick, so, after giving them a moment, I walk over to Grissom and clear my throat, “Thank you for getting me out of my head, earlier.” He stares at me for a silent moment before explaining, “I’ve seen the look on your face before, knew that if I didn’t shift your focus to something work related, you’d have spiraled out of control...figured you’d been through enough for a first day, so I brought you back to earth and gave you something external to focus on.” I nod, clearing a lump of emotion from my throat as I murmur, “Yes, well...I look forward to working with you from here on out.”


End file.
